Red Moon at Sharpsburg

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is a revealing look at the Civil War from the perspective of a feisty young Southern girl. The author says that she was interested in writing about the Civil War and not “prettifying” it. There isn’t a single pretty thing about the war in this book, but at the same time, it is filled with people to care about who are caught up in one of the most defining moments in our country’s history.

When the Civil War begins India Moody’s school closes and she is sent to a neighbor for tutoring. A natural scientist, India studies biology and chemistry rather than the Bible and handwriting like other young girls of her time, despite the fact that her book learning might make her “a spinster fit for no man.” There is a college in Ohio that accepts women and India is determined to go there, an impossible dream for a girl in the 1860s, even without a war.

While her father is off fighting, India and her mother are forced out of their home as the Union Army approaches. India’s studies come to an end as she takes on the work of women in wartime; helping to nurse the wounded, comforting the grieving, and always, always, looking for food. While helping tend the wounded, India’s dedication to the confederate cause and to science are put to the test. She has a front row seat for truly horrifying medical procedures without anesthesia or antiseptics on boys, both Union and Confederate, that bleed the same kind of blood and carry pictures of loved ones in their pockets.

As India makes her way to an uncertain future with her characteristic determination, she finds that her world is not as black and white as she once thought, and that her dreams, even for a girl, just might be possible. Author: Rosemary Wells